A Dallas County jury found Darius Fields guilty of engaging in an organized criminal activity Tuesday in connection with the 2017 kidnapping and murder of Shavon Randle and Michael Titus.
The jury deliberated for three hours after closing arguments in the case against Fields whom prosecutors described as the ringleader of a drug crew that planned and executed the kidnapping and murder of 13-year-old Shavon Randle.
The sentencing phase of the trial will begin Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. where he faces life in prison.
In an admittedly complicated case with surveillance video, data from multiple cell phones, co-conspirators and two murder victims, including a 13-year-old child, prosecutors asked jurors to focus on what they say connects all of it.
SEE ALSO: Darius Fields’ Criminal Trial Related To 13-Year-Old Shavon Randle’s Murder Begins This Week
During closing arguments, Dallas County assistant prosecutor Jennifer Falk told jurors Darius Fields was angry when his girlfriend was robbed of high-grade marijuana at a Lancaster motel in June 2017.
In response, prosecutors say Fields identified Kendall Perkins as the robber and then started conducting surveillance on Perkins’ girlfriend Ladoris Randle. Two days after the drug robbery, Randle’s cousin Shavon, who had just completed the 6th grade and was in her pajamas, was kidnapped from her aunt’s house in Lancaster.
“All signs lead to Darius Jamal Fields,” Falk said.
Fields is charged with engaging in organized criminal activity that led to Shavon’s kidnapping and murder and that of Michael Titus, who prosecutors say was part of Fields’ drug crew.
Three other co-conspirators face the same charge.
A Dallas County jury sentenced Desmond Jones to 99 years in prison in February 2020.
Laquan Wilkerson was sentenced to 40 years after entering a guilty plea in August 2021. The case against Devontae Owens is still pending.
During closing arguments, Fields’ defense attorneys told jurors those three other co-conspirators acted alone and that evidence from a week-long trial doesn’t connect Fields to any of it.
“He didn’t have anything to do with the killing of that child or Michael Titus,” Allen said. “Prove that. That’s why we’re here.”
Prosecutors told jurors piece after piece of evidence leads to Fields and added another element that isn’t always known in a case – motive.
“It is his crew that has the motive,” Falk said. “It is his crew, and Mr. Fields in particular, who has put profit over people. Profit over a 13-year old little girl.”
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